


Expenditure

by petiteneko



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Drowning, M/M, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 14:11:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9075325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petiteneko/pseuds/petiteneko
Summary: As long as Luffy was safe, that was all that mattered.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Plume8now](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plume8now/gifts).
  * Inspired by [N/A](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/250834) by Ezaria-uminko. 



> Just a note: This was somewhat inspired by artwork on tumblr. And the person whom this is for is also writing something similar to this (so don't go bugging them if you notice it! And if you do go give it a read!)
> 
> PS:  
> .xxx. is a timeskip  
> .+++. is a change in PoV!

“No.”

That was the word that sealed the deal. A stern no from Nami.

“No Luffy, you are **not** going out on an _adventure_ on this island. Your face was on the papers just yesterday! We don’t need the Marines marching on over here and we need more supplies. We are picking stuff up and leaving. Understand?”

Luffy was pouting, sputtering buts and Nami just sighed. What was she _thinking_ denying her captain an adventure?

(Law didn’t blame her, they didn’t need to extra attention right now.)

“And you Law, you’re going to make sure Luffy doesn’t wander off. Your face was in the paper too!”

Not that he was planning on going on land anyway. He shrugged, tugging Luffy back when he moved to hop off.

Most of the group left, with the exception of Robin, Brook and Zoro.

But it wasn’t long before Zoro had decided to wander off on his own and the other two left to ensure that damn swordsman didn’t get lost.

He had absolutely no sense of direction after all.

Which left the two captains aboard the Sunny alone.

Perhaps that wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for Luffy’s constant whining, (it was something along the lines of Zoro now) if maybe Luffy saw the positives in their situation. But, no, all he saw was the adventures he was missing out on.

It was nice to have some time to themselves after all, but the damn idiot was ruining it.

“Luffy-ya.” Law said for probably the tenth time already. “They aren’t going on any adventures. They are getting supplies. Like _meat._ ”

“Meat? Where!”

Well that sufficiently distracted him.

Law could only sigh though. Luffy could be so predictable at times.

“Well, you have to wait until Sanji gets back. And _if_ you go off adventuring, then it’ll take _even longer._ Because then who has to come back only to realise that you are gone and then he has to go find you, solve whatever mess you’ve gotten yourself into, and then come back _again_ before he has to start making the food?”

“Okay, _okay._ ” Luffy was pouting again, but at least it seemed he was won over. “I’ll stay here, if only for the meat.”

…Did that boy just stick his tongue out at him?

(He was irked. And not only for that snide action. Why though?)

“Torao’s making that face again. What, did Torao think I was going to go adventuring without him?”

Where the **fuck** did that come from?

He couldn’t help but make a noise. Was it irritated or actually annoyed and mad? He didn’t know. “Well, _somebody_ has to remain here to guard _your_ ship.” He was just a passenger after all.

So much damn pouting.

“Why didn’t you say you needed company Torao?” But now it was laughter and Luffy wrapped his arms around his shoulders. “‘Course I’ll stay with you, you’re my nakama after all!”

…Why didn’t he just say that indeed?

.xxx.

The storm came out of nowhere. A hurricane was the closest thing to describe it. The island, too, was getting hit by it but neither captain had any time to worry about that.

The ship had already almost capsized twice. The anchor was both helping and hindering them.

Luffy was spouting some nonsense about taking off and circling around the island, but Law had to argue back that if the others were trying to come back they should stay.

He had even suggested that they should go into that small submarine on the ship. At least until the storm passed. Neither of them could swim after all.

But Luffy was stubborn, wanting to do things _his_ way and insisting that it was _his_ ship.

Law should have been more insistent. Law should have just dragged or _shambled_ Luffy along with him into the submarine.

Law should have done a lot of things, in retrospect. But that was in the past now.

Because a violent wave had hit the lower portion of the Sunny and…

Luffy was gone.

(The first thought in his mind was to jump overboard to rescue Luffy. Because the idiot couldn’t swim, and he was an anchor and—but no. His mind reminding him that that would do no good, as he couldn’t swim either. That it would only result in tragedy, as both of them fought against the rapid currents and the drain the sea gave them. As they both gradually sunk to the ocean floor. And that damned idiot would probably have that damned smile on his face, happy that _Torao_ would do something so _foolish_ to save him.)

What should he do _now_ was the issue at hand, however. Not what he _should_ have done.

(Law wasn’t panicking. Law wasn’t panicking. Fuck that swordsman. Fucking asshole. Why didn’t he stay? He was the only bastard who could swim. Why did he even eat this damned devil fruit anyway? He didn’t need power. Oh. Right… Cora-san.)

( _Cora-san…_ )

“ **LUFFY-YA!** ”

What to do? What could he do? Fucking anchor curse. No. No. He was running out of time. Concentrate. _Concentrate_ dammit! Luffy was sinking and sinking and going deeper and deeper and **fuck!** Now. Now. He needed to act _now!_

A _Room!_

Big. No bigger. _**Bigger!**_

Law could feel the strain, but he pressed on. (How far down was Luffy really? He needed to make the _Room_ as big as possible. Even if that meant he shortened his lifespan. Even if that meant he would pass out from exhaustion. As long as Luffy was safe. Where was he? _Where_ was he! **Where!** Shit. He was running out of time. Out of energy…

And then he felt it. That weak, small force approaching the outskirts of his _Room_

 _Shambles. Shambles._ He just needed to use it!

(But what could he use? What? Where? Oh! There! That!)

Law didn’t really notice what it was, but it at least didn’t look all that important.

( _What_ was more important than Luffy’s life anyways?)

_And he could feel it. Feel the drain of the sea pulling on his Room. Feel as he tried summoning up the strength to cast the ability. Could feel the drain of just the sheer size of his Room… But Luffy. Luffy. Luffy was all that mattered._

“ _Shambles._ ”

His legs gave out beneath him, and his _Room_ vanished instantly. His vision was swimming with black and grey dots. His head was spinning, and his stomach… (He wouldn’t be surprised if the contents of his stomach was spilled on the deck of the Sunny, but at least it didn’t _smell_ like it did)

The energy that it took… He was drained. So drained… If he could just….

_No! Luffy! Luffy!_

He jolted his wobbling form upright (he was still on his knees but still) and looked around. Where? _There!_

He needed to help. He needed to stay conscious. Because what if? What if Luffy had inhaled water or swallowed it or his heart stopped breathing, if he was drowning if, if…

Really, Law didn’t know where the energy came from to get himself on all fours, but…

( _He was weak. By gods he was **so** weak…_ )

But Luffy.

He fumbled over there and found himself cursing when there were no signs. Not breathing… no pulse. Maybe he just needed a clearing of the lungs?

( _He didn’t have the energy for this…_ )

He rolled the other captain on his side and smacked his back a few times to try and clear the passages, but no such luck.

_Dammit!_

But Luffy. Luffy. He _needed_ him.

So Law rolled him back on his back, placed his hands together on his chest and pushed. Pushed. Pushed. The rhythm was easy enough to get into. Push. Push.

And water started coming out. But, _still_ he wasn’t breathing on his own.

Push. Push.

_Luffy. Push. Luffy. Push._

It was a mantra, and he couldn’t think of anything else. His mind was solely focused on Luffy. On making him breathe again no matter the cost. And after he counted to fifty he leaned in before placing his lips on those rubber ones and breathed.

One. Nothing. Two. Nothing. Three.

Pause.

(This was the longest fucking second of his life.)

And then a cough. Another. Water. More water. Hacking.

And those eyes opened.

“T-Torao?”

Oh, thank gods…

Law could feel a smile tugging at his lips. “Thank you… Thank you Luffy-ya.”

And then the world went black.

.+++.

“Torao! **Torao!!!** ”

No, no, no. This wasn’t happening. No… No!

Luffy moved his arms up (why were they so weak dammit!) and shook the man above him. “T-Torao! Wake up!”

No answer.

Luffy was shaking, but he flipped them both over. Torao wasn’t bleeding, so why? Why wasn’t he getting up!

He took a hold of his shoulders and he shook him. “ **Torao! WAKE UP!** ”

His voice shook. It was scared. _He_ was scared. Nonono. This can’t happen!

 

“O-Oi Torao? What happened? Torao? Torao!”

(He could almost hear Mingo’s voice again. Sakazuki’s voice. The gunshots. Could feel the blood running down him, but this time it was cold. Oh so cold…)

“ ** _TORAO!_** ”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I’m mean XD (Also had to go to sleep because by the time I posted chapter 1 I had to be up for work in 7 hours)

Chopper prided himself on his skills as a doctor. He took it seriously after all. He knew his crew’s blood types. Any allergies. Their strengths, their weaknesses. His crew’s life was in his hands after all.

But that soon wasn’t enough. No, Chopper needed more information.

He got mad when Luffy didn’t gather the correct information about the members of his grand fleet. But it was a good thing that Robin managed to collect their numbers.

It wasn’t information he needed to keep readily at the forefront of his mind, but into the books it went. He would probably end up treating them sometime in the future. And the more information he had, the better.

Law’s group too. Picking the captain’s brain for that though proved to be tedious work, but eventually Chopper got that, too.

Law didn’t give much information about himself though. Sure, he had the guy’s blood type. Don’t give him bread. He doesn’t sleep a lot. But not a whole lot of information.

Which was why he was grateful that he asked around.

Sanji told him that Law wasn’t _allergic_ to bread, but had a high level of detecting whether or not there was bread in his food. Usopp told him that Law’s ability was taxing on his energy levels. Robin mentioned that those abilities could even potentially shorten his life span if used to certain extents.

The little, but important, things like that.

So when he saw the blue dome that was characteristic of Law’s ability he worried. They were quite a ways from the ship. Especially considering a storm had just hit…

“Guys! Something’s wrong! We need to go back to the Sunny, now!”

.xxx.

What they had returned to…

_Luffy was shaking an unconscious Law by the shoulders and screaming and crying and…_

It was Sanji who reacted first. He jumped aboard the Sunny and ripped Luffy away from Law and just pinned him down to the deck.

Chopper took that opportunity to look at Law.

(It wasn’t that Luffy didn’t need looking at – oh he definitely did – but Law was unconscious and not moving and Luffy shaking him like that probably was worsening the situation.)

First thing he felt for was vitals.

Because Law was pallid and damp and cold.

Thankfully, it was only due to the storm as he felt the weak, but present pulse. As he watched the shallow inhales and exhales.

He looked back to see Luffy struggling with Sanji. He knew. He knew what Luffy was worried about.

“Torao’s alive Luffy!”

Luffy was… _hysterical_ there was no other way to put it. And, while it took some repetition and some head bonking from Nami, eventually they managed to calm Luffy down.

Chopper, on the other hand, was evaluating Law. He was weak. Very weak.

He showed some symptoms of being tossed in seawater. (So did Luffy. _What_ happened here?)

But also of severe exhaustion.

The thing that was worrying him though was that Luffy appeared to be recovering while Law was not. Was he simply _that_ exhausted?

They _both_ were showing signs of shock however, and _that_ needed to be treated and fast.

“Usopp! Go get some towels and blankets and bring them to the infirmary. Sanji! Go make some food. Something to warm them up and revitalise them. Nami! I need you to bring Luffy to my office. I’ll carry Law.”

With orders given, Chopper transformed into his human form and carefully carried his patient to the bed.

.xxx.

They had dried off both Luffy and Law and wrapped them in blankets. Nami was holding Luffy. (Who wouldn’t stop looking at Law or mumbling his name.)

They managed to get Luffy out of hysteria however, and mostly out of his state of shock. It was _still_ there, but this was the only way they could keep it from going out of control again. (If Luffy _couldn’t_ see Law he’d go back into hysteria and shock himself again.)

Hell, even just _asking_ about what happened did that.

(At least they managed to get some information out of him, so it wasn’t in vain.)

From what they heard from Luffy, he had gone overboard before waking up with Law’s face in front of his and sore ribs before Law collapsed on top of him after thanking him.

That, combined with everything else he knew, the pieces were forming a picture. Luffy went overboard. Law probably panicked (Law seemed prone to those) and overexerted himself with his abilities (combined with the fact he had to use them in a location below sea level) before performing cpr on Luffy.

He had probably only been running on pure adrenaline and a will to keep Luffy alive. Which would have given out the moment that Luffy was responsive and alive.

All in all, Law had merely overextended himself. It was such a simple explanation but it had dire consequences.

It only supported his initial diagnosis, and that meant Sanji’s food would do _both_ of them good.

While Chopper was somewhat opposed to waking Law up from his rest (because that was doing his condition great) there just was _something_ about Sanji’s cooking after the two years of training. And Law could use that _something_ right now.

And so, when Sanji walked in with the food, Chopper took Law’s food and placed it on the spot beside the bed. He then took up a needle and administered a bit of stimulant. Not enough to _fully_ rouse Law, but enough to get him to eat.

“Torao, it’s Chopper. Here, eat this.” He said when those amber eyes fluttered open groggily. “It will help.”

He had to mostly spoon-feed Law it, and he had expected it, considering his patient’s condition.

He could hear some muffled noised behind him and he could imagine Nami had wrapped a hand around Luffy’s mouth so he wouldn’t start yelling or asking questions.

“Once Torao finishes eating,” Chopper explained as he continued to feed Law, “he’s going back to resting Luffy. He’s just up to take his medicine.”

“Oi!”

Apparently Sanji opposed to his food being referred to medicine, but a quick glare from him stopped any further protests.

Finally, Luffy seemed to calm down and presumably resumed eating. Good. Luffy needed his medicine too.

“When will Torao be better Chopper?”

Hm? They finally got a coherent sentence out of Luffy? That was good. Very good indeed!

Unfortunately, Chopper didn’t have an answer that Luffy would have liked.

“I… don’t know Luffy.” And really, he didn’t. It all depended on Law and his recuperation skills. “He wore himself out. Really badly.” The stew was gone now, and Chopper moved to get himself something to counteract the stimulant. “He needs to rest to get his strength back.” He smiled sadly when those eyes closed and Law drafted back to sleep.

“Other than that, I don’t see anything else wrong with him. We just have to wait.”

.xxx.

Luffy was asleep in the chair, and Law was still resting.

Chopper had been writing in his book, adding a few things to Law’s file that he had learned today.

And then Zoro came back. (More like Brook and Robin dragged him back.)

How did he know? Well Nami and Sanji were yelling and scolding Zoro, and he could hear some things flying around out there.

Chopper sighed loudly to himself before hopping off his chair. He looked calm, he knew, but the moment he left the infirmary he glared up at everybody.

(Apparently Franky was trying to stop the fight while Usopp was hiding behind Nami and on their side.)

“Oi!” He yelled out, storming towards the group. “Keep it down out here! If you’re going to yell and fight do it elsewhere! Law needs to sleep you idiots!”

(Not that the noise would’ve waken him up. The guy was out cold.)

Maybe, just maybe, he was frustrated with himself. But exhaustion had no miracle drug to ‘cure’ it without counter-effective side-effects. All one needed was rest and time.

The very least he could do was make sure it was quiet for him.

“Go fight where Law can’t hear you dammit!”

.+++.

…Where was he? From what he could recall the Sunny didn’t have much in the way of bed and – was that Luffy snoring?

Luffy…

(The name reverberated in his mind and suddenly he had this urge to do something. He needed to… he needed to… needed to _what?_ )

“L-Luffy-ya!”

Why did his arms feel so heavy? His chest… legs… head…eyelids…

“Torao!”

…That voice wasn’t Luffy’s.

(He was still snoring.)

It had to be a strawhat though.

“You’re awake! How are you feeling? Wha….”

The voice droned out and sounded so distant. He couldn’t make out the words. All he could think of was Luffy and the way his name was so insistent in his mind like a mantra of sorts.

“Luffy-ya…”

Why? Why was Luffy’s name so important?

He could hear the voice again, but it wasn’t important. Luffy was.

Luffy… Luffy. Was he injured or something? Or hurt? Or… was that why he was in the condition he was in?

“Is Mugiwara-ya okay?”

He heard the sound of affirmation and he felt a weight being lifted off his chest. Okay. Luffy was okay. That’s all that mattered. He was okay he was–

Water. Waves. Drowning. Luffy was… Luffy was…. _Pallid skin. Not breathing. No pulse._

“Luffy-ya!”

Big arms suddenly wrapped around him as he shot up straight. Luffy! Luffy! Luffy!

“Luffy is alright Law!”

Oh. That was Chopper’s voice. These were his arms… Luffy was alright… but why were they in the infirmary? Why was _Luffy_ here? If Luffy was alright then _why…?_

“Calm down!”

Luffy… Luffy. Fuck. Did he fuck up? Did Luffy have damage or…? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

“Torao.”

That voice froze him. It was Luffy. That was Luffy. He wasn’t sleeping. He was up. Here.

“I’m okay Torao. You saved me. I’m alright.”

He _was_ okay! He was…

It was rubbery arms that wrapped around him now, and the strong, fur-covered ones faded away.

Law lifted his heavy limbs and weakly squeezed Luffy.

“Chopper says you exhausted yourself. But you’re okay right? Right?”

If it didn’t hurt, Law would’ve laughed. Luffy was worried about _him?_

But the words were making sense. Exhausted himself? Was that why his arms felt like lead? Why he couldn’t open his eyes or his head was spinning? Right… right… he did that, didn’t he?

But Luffy was alright.

He could feel himself relaxing and the darkness creeping back in. “Yeah, as long as you’re okay though Luffy-ya…”

And it was Luffy’s soft laughter and his warm embrace that Law fell asleep to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not **that** mean though guys  <3

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sorry. ~~Happyholidayseverybody~~


End file.
